U.S. patent application number 11/256329 was filed with the patent office on 2006-05-04 for configurable optical transceiver feature specific cost transaction.
Invention is credited to Gerald L. Dybsetter, Luke M. Ekkizogloy, Jayne C. Hahin.
Application Number | 20060093370 11/256329 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 36262057 |
Filed Date | 2006-05-04 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060093370 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ekkizogloy; Luke M. ; et
al. |
May 4, 2006 |
Configurable optical transceiver feature specific cost
transaction
Abstract
An environment that facilitates the purchasing and updating of
specific operational features in an optical transceiver (or optical
transmitter or optical receiver). The environment includes a host
computing system (hereinafter referred to as the "host"), a
network, a remote computing site, and an optical transceiver having
a system memory and at least one processor. The host determines
what specific operational feature is desired. A request to purchase
the specific operational feature is sent over the network from the
host to the remote computing site. The remote computing site
responds to this request by providing the host information by which
microcode corresponding to the purchased specific feature may be
accessed. The host may then access the feature specific microcode.
Finally, the host provides the feature specific microcode to the
optical transceiver memory where it may later be executed by the
processor.
Inventors: |
Ekkizogloy; Luke M.; (San
Jose, CA) ; Hahin; Jayne C.; (Cupertino, CA) ;
Dybsetter; Gerald L.; (Scotts Valley, CA) |
Correspondence
Address: |
WORKMAN NYDEGGER;(F/K/A WORKMAN NYDEGGER & SEELEY)
60 EAST SOUTH TEMPLE
1000 EAGLE GATE TOWER
SALT LAKE CITY
UT
84111
US
|
Family ID: |
36262057 |
Appl. No.: |
11/256329 |
Filed: |
October 21, 2005 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
60623267 |
Oct 29, 2004 |
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
398/135 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04B 10/43 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
398/135 |
International
Class: |
H04B 10/00 20060101
H04B010/00 |
Claims
1. In an environment that includes an optical transceiver host
computing system communicatively couplable to an optical
transceiver that has a memory and one or more processors, a method
for the optical transceiver host to facilitate purchasing and
updating of feature specific microcode that governs behavior of an
optical transceiver, the method comprising: an act of the optical
transceiver host computing system identifying desired transceiver
specific operational features to be purchased, wherein each feature
is implemented by the one or more processors executing feature
specific microcode; an act of the optical transceiver host
computing system transmitting a request to purchase the desired
transceiver specific operational features; an act of receiving a
response to the request to purchase in the form of information by
which purchased feature specific microcode corresponding to the
desired transceiver specific operational features may be accessed;
an act of accessing the purchased feature specific microcode; and
an act of providing the purchased feature specific microcode to the
optical transceiver memory.
2. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the desired
transceiver specific operational features to be purchased are one
of an alarm or warning setting, a diagnostics feature, a feature
that allows a user to set a plurality of operational parameters,
and an off module logging feature.
3. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein transmitting the
request to purchase desired transceiver specific operational
features comprises transmitting a credit card number over a network
to a remote computing site with directions to charge a credit
account associated with the credit card number.
4. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein transmitting the
request to purchase desired transceiver specific operational
features comprises transmitting over a network to a remote
computing site a bank account number with directions to debit the
bank account associated with the bank account number.
5. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein transmitting the
request to purchase desired transceiver specific operational
features comprises transmitting over a network to a remote
computing site directions to electronically wire money to specific
location.
6. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the response to the
request to purchase comprises receiving a purchased decryption
key.
7. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the response to the
request to purchase comprises receiving directions on how to
download the purchased feature specific microcode.
8. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the response to the
request to purchase comprises receiving permission to access the
purchased feature specific microcode.
9. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of
accessing the purchased feature specific microcode comprises
decrypting encrypted feature specific microcode.
10. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the act of
accessing the purchased feature specific microcode comprises
downloading the feature specific microcode from a remote computing
site over a network.
11. A method in accordance with claim 1, further comprising: an act
of executing at least a portion of the purchased feature specific
microcode using the one or more processors.
12. A method in accordance with claim 1, wherein the response to
the request to purchase comprises receiving the purchased feature
specific microcode on a portable storage unit over standard
mail.
13. In an environment that includes an optical transmitter host
computing system communicatively couplable to an optical
transmitter that has a memory and one or more processors, a method
for the optical transmitter host to facilitate purchasing and
updating of feature specific microcode that governs behavior of an
optical transmitter, the method comprising: an act of the optical
transmitter host computing system identifying desired transmitter
specific operational features to be purchased, wherein each feature
is implemented by the one or more processors executing feature
specific microcode; an act of the optical transmitter host
computing system transmitting a request to purchase the desired
transmitter specific operational features; an act of receiving a
response to the request to purchase in the form of information by
which purchased feature specific microcode corresponding to the
desired transmitter specific operational features may be accessed;
an act of accessing the purchased feature specific microcode; and
an act of providing the purchased feature specific microcode to the
optical transmitter memory.
14. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the optical
transmitter is an optical transceiver.
15. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein transmitting the
request to purchase desired transmitter specific operational
features comprises transmitting over a network to a remote
computing site one of a credit card number with directions to
charge a credit account associated with the credit card number, a
bank account number with directions to debit the bank account, or
directions to electronically wire money to specific location.
16. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the response to
the request to purchase comprises receiving one of a purchased
decryption key or directions on how to download the purchased
feature specific microcode.
17. A method in accordance with claim 13, wherein the act of
accessing the purchased feature specific microcode comprises one of
decrypting encrypted feature specific microcode or downloading the
feature specific microcode from a remote computing site over a
network.
18. A method in accordance with claim 13, further comprising: an
act of executing at least a portion of the purchased feature
specific microcode using the one or more processors.
19. In an environment that includes an optical receiver host
computing system communicatively couplable to an optical receiver
that has a memory and one or more processors, a method for the
optical receiver host to facilitate purchasing and updating of
feature specific microcode that governs behavior of an optical
receiver, the method comprising: an act of the optical receiver
host computing system identifying desired receiver specific
operational features to be purchased, wherein each feature is
implemented by the one or more processors executing feature
specific microcode; an act of the optical receiver host computing
system transmitting a request to purchase the desired receiver
specific operational features; an act of receiving a response to
the request to purchase in the form of information by which
purchased feature specific microcode corresponding to the desired
receiver specific operational features may be accessed; an act of
accessing the purchased feature specific microcode; and an act of
providing the purchased feature specific microcode to the optical
transmitter memory.
20. A method in accordance with claim 19, wherein the optical
receiver is an optical transceiver.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional
Application No. 60/623,267, filed Oct. 29, 2004, which is
incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. The Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates generally to optical
transmitters, receivers, and transceivers. More specifically, the
present invention relates to methods and mechanisms for the
purchasing and updating of custom features for optical
transmitters, receivers and transceivers.
[0004] 2. Background and Relevant Art
[0005] Computing and networking technology have transformed our
world. As the amount of information communicated over networks has
increased, high speed transmission has become ever more critical.
Many high speed data transmission networks rely on optical
transceivers, transmitters, receivers, and similar devices for
facilitating transmission and reception of digital data embodied in
the form of optical signals over optical fibers. Optical networks
are thus found in a wide variety of high speed applications ranging
from as modest as a small Local Area Network (LAN) to as grandiose
as the backbone of the Internet.
[0006] Typically, data transmission in such networks is implemented
by way of an optical transmitter (also referred to as an
electro-optic transducer), such as a laser or Light Emitting Diode
(LED). The electro-optic transducer emits light when current is
passed through it, the intensity of the emitted light being a
function of the current magnitude. Data reception is generally
implemented by way of an optical receiver (also referred to as an
optoelectronic transducer), an example of which is a photodiode.
The optoelectronic transducer receives light and generates a
current, the magnitude of the generated current being a function of
the intensity of the received light.
[0007] Various other components are also employed by the optical
transceiver to aid in the control of the optical transmit and
receive components, as well as the processing of various data and
other signals. For example, such optical transceivers typically
include a driver (e.g., referred to as a "laser driver" when used
to drive a laser) configured to control the operation of the
optical transmitter in response to various control inputs. The
optical transceiver also generally includes an amplifier (e.g.,
often referred to as a "post-amplifier") configured to amplify the
channel-attenuated received signal prior to further processing. A
controller circuit (hereinafter referred to the "controller")
controls the operation of the laser driver and post-amplifier.
[0008] Controllers are typically implemented in hardware as state
machines. Their operation is fast, but inflexible. Being primarily
state machines, the functionality of the controller is limited to
the hardware structure of the controller. Nevertheless, the
features that may be desired by customers for these optical
transceivers may be different, customer by customer. Accordingly,
what would be advantageous is for customers to have the ability to
purchase and add specific features to the optical transmitters,
receivers, and transceivers that give more flexibility to the
operation of these devices.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0009] The foregoing problems with the prior state of the art are
overcome by the principles of the present invention, which relate
to an environment that enables the purchasing and updating of
specific features that govern the behavior of an optical
transceiver (or optical transmitter or optical receiver). The
environment includes an optical transceiver host computing system
(hereinafter simply referred to as "host") communicatively
couplable to an optical transceiver including a memory and one or
more processors.
[0010] The host identifies desired transceiver specific features to
purchase and transmits a request to purchase the features to a
remote computing site. The request to purchase may be in the form
of a credit card payment request or other method of payment. In
response to the request to purchase, the host receives information
by which microcode corresponding to the purchased specific feature
may be accessed. The host accesses the microcode and provides it to
the memory of the optical transceiver. It may later be executed by
the one or more processors to implement the desired feature.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a quick and easy way to
purchase and update new specific operational features whenever
desired to update the operational features of the transceiver.
[0011] Additional features and advantages of the invention will be
set forth in the description that follows, and in part will be
obvious from the description, or may be learned by the practice of
the invention. The features and advantages of the invention may be
realized and obtained by means of the instruments and combinations
particularly pointed out in the appended claims. These and other
features of the present invention will become more fully apparent
from the following description and appended claims, or may be
learned by the practice of the invention as set forth
hereinafter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0012] To further clarify the above and other advantages and
features of the present invention, a more particular description of
the invention will be rendered by reference to specific embodiments
thereof which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is
appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of
the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of
its scope. The invention will be described and explained with
additional specificity and detail through the use of the
accompanying drawings in which:
[0013] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an example of an
environment including an optical transceiver that may implement
features of the present invention;
[0014] FIG. 2 schematically illustrates an example of a control
module of FIG. 1; and
[0015] FIG. 3 illustrates a flowchart of a method for an optical
transceiver host computing system to facilitate purchasing and
updating of optical transceiver features in accordance with the
principles of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0016] The principles of the present invention relate to an
environment that facilitates the purchasing and updating of
specific operational features in an optical transceiver (or optical
transmitter or optical receiver). The environment includes a host
computing system (hereinafter referred to as the "host"), a
network, a remote computing site, and an optical transceiver having
a memory and at least one processor. The host determines what
specific operational feature is desired. A request to purchase the
specific operational feature is sent over the network from the host
to the remote computing site. The remote computing site responds to
this request by providing the host information that may be used to
facilitate access to microcode corresponding to the purchased
feature. The host may then access the feature specific microcode.
Finally, the host provides the feature specific microcode to the
optical transceiver memory where it may later be executed by the
processor. An example of the environment will first be described.
Then, the operation in accordance with the invention will be
described with respect to the example environment.
[0017] FIG. 1 illustrates an environment 100 in which the
principles of the present invention may be employed. The
environment 100 includes an optical transceiver 100A, which will
now be described. While the optical transceiver 100A will be
described in some detail, the optical transceiver 100A is described
by way of illustration only, and not by way of restricting the
scope of the invention. The principles of the present invention are
suitable for 1 G, 2 G, 4 G, 8 G, 10 G and higher bandwidth fiber
optic links. Furthermore, the principles of the present invention
may be implemented in optical (e.g., laser) transmitter/receivers
of any form factor such as XFP, SFP and SFF, without restriction.
Having said this, the principles of the present invention are not
limited to an optical transceiver environment at all.
[0018] The optical transceiver 100A receives an optical signal from
fiber 110A using receiver 101. The receiver 101 acts as an
opto-electric transducer by transforming the optical signal into an
electrical signal. The receiver 101 provides the resulting
electrical signal to a post-amplifier 102. The post-amplifier 102
amplifies the signal and provides the amplified signal to an
external host 111 as represented by arrow 102A. The external host
111 may be any computing system capable of communicating with the
optical transceiver 100A. The external host 111 may contain a host
memory 112 that may be a volatile or non-volatile memory source. In
one embodiment, the optical transceiver 100A may be a printed
circuit board or other components/chips within the host 111,
although this is not required.
[0019] The optical transceiver 100A may also receive electrical
signals from the host 111 for transmission onto the fiber 110B.
Specifically, the laser driver 103 receives the electrical signal
as represented by the arrow 103A, and drives the transmitter 104
(e.g., a laser or Light Emitting Diode (LED)) with signals that
cause the transmitter 104 to emit onto the fiber 110B optical
signals representative of the information in the electrical signal
provided by the host 111. Accordingly, the transmitter 104 serves
as an electro-optic transducer.
[0020] The behavior of the receiver 101, the post-amplifier 102,
the laser driver 103, and the transmitter 104 may vary dynamically
due to a number of factors. For example, temperature changes, power
fluctuations, and feedback conditions may each affect the
performance of these components. Accordingly, the optical
transceiver 100A includes a control module 105, which may evaluate
temperature and voltage conditions and other operational
circumstances, and receive information from the post-amplifier 102
(as represented by arrow 105A) and from the laser driver 103 (as
represented by arrow 105B). This allows the control module 105 to
optimize the dynamically varying performance, and additionally
detect when there is a loss of signal.
[0021] Specifically, the control module 105 may counteract these
changes by adjusting settings on the post-amplifier 102 and/or the
laser driver 103 as also represented by the arrows 105A and 105B.
These settings adjustments are quite intermittent since they are
only made when temperature or voltage or other low frequency
changes so warrant.
[0022] The control module 105 includes both an analog portion 108
and a digital portion 109. Together, they allow the control module
to implement logic digitally, while still largely interfacing with
the rest of the optical transceiver 100A using analog signals. FIG.
2 schematically illustrates an example 200 of the control module
105 in further detail. The control module 200 includes an analog
portion 200A that represents an example of the analog portion 108
of FIG. 1, and a digital portion 200B that represents an example of
the digital portion 109 of FIG. 1.
[0023] For example, the analog portion 200A may contain digital to
analog converters, analog to digital converters, high speed
comparators (e.g., for event detection), voltage based reset
generators, voltage regulators, voltage references, clock
generator, and other analog components. For example, the analog
portion 200A includes sensors 211A, 211B, 211C amongst potentially
others as represented by the horizontal ellipses 211D. Each of
these sensors may be responsible for measuring operational
parameters that may be measured from the control module 200 such
as, for example, supply voltage and transceiver temperature. The
control module may also receive external analog or digital signals
from other components within the optical transceiver that indicate
other measured parameters such as, for example, laser bias current,
transmit power, receive power, laser wavelength, laser temperature,
and Thermo Electric Cooler (TEC) current. Two external lines 212A
and 212B are illustrated for receiving such external analog signals
although there may be many of such lines.
[0024] The internal sensors may generate analog signals that
represent the measured values. In addition, the externally provided
signals may also be analog signals. In this case, the analog
signals are converted to digital signals so as to be available to
the digital portion 200B of the control module 200 for further
processing. Of course, each analog parameter value may have its own
Analog to Digital Converter (ADC). However, to preserve chip space,
each signal may be periodically sampled in a round robin fashion
using a single ADC such as the illustrated ADC 214. In this case,
each analog value may be provided to a multiplexer 213, which
selects in a round robin fashion, one of the analog signals at a
time for sampling by the ADC 214. Alternatively, multiplexer 213
may be programmed to allow any order of analog signals to be
sampled by ADC 214.
[0025] As previously mentioned, the analog portion 200A of the
control module 200 may also include other analog components 215
such as, for example, digital to ananalog converters, other analog
to digital converters, high speed comparators (e.g., for event
detection), voltage based reset generators, voltage regulators,
voltage references, clock generator, and other analog
components.
[0026] The digital portion 200B of the control module 200 may
include a timer module 202 that provides various timing signals
used by the digital portion 200B. Such timing signals may include,
for example, programmable processor clock signals. The timer module
202 may also act as a watchdog timer.
[0027] Two general-purpose processors 203A and 203B are also
included. The processors recognize instructions that follow a
particular instruction set, and may perform normal general-purpose
operation such as shifting, branching, adding, subtracting,
multiplying, dividing, Boolean operations, comparison operations,
and the like. In one embodiment, the general-purpose processors
203A and 203B are each a 16-bit processor and may be identically
structured. The precise structure of the instruction set is not
important to the principles of the present invention as the
instruction set may be optimized around a particular hardware
environment, and as the precise hardware environment is not
important to the principles of the present invention.
[0028] A host communications interface 204 is used to communicate
with the host 111, possibly implemented using a two-wire interface
such as I.sup.2C shown in FIG. 1 as the serial data (SDA) and
serial clock (SCL) lines on the optical transceiver 100A. Other
host communication interfaces may also be implemented as well. Data
may be provided from the control module 105 to the host 111 using
this host communications interface to allow for digital diagnostics
and readings of temperature levels, transmit/receiver power levels,
and the like. The external device interface 205 is used to
communicate with, for example, other modules within the optical
transceiver 100 such as, for example, the post-amplifier 102, the
laser driver 103, or the persistent memory 106.
[0029] The internal controller system memory 206 (not to be
confused with the external persistent memory 106) may be Random
Access Memory (RAM) or non-volatile memory. The memory controller
207 shares access to the controller system memory 206 amongst each
of the processors 203A and 203B and with the host communication
interface 204 and the external device interface 205. In one
embodiment, the host communication interface 204 includes a serial
interface controller 201A, and the external device interface 205
includes a serial interface controller 201B. The two serial
interface controllers 201A and 201B may communicate using a
two-wire interface such as I.sup.2C or another interface so long as
the interface is recognized by both communicating modules. One
serial interface controller (e.g., serial interface controller
201B) is a master component, while the other serial interface
controller (e.g., serial interface controller 201A) is a slave
component.
[0030] An input/output multiplexer 208 multiplexes the various
input/output pins of the control module 200 to the various
components within the control module 200. This enables different
components to dynamically assign pins in accordance with the
then-existing operational circumstances of the control module 200.
Accordingly, there may be more input/output nodes within the
control module 200 than there are pins available on the control
module 200, thereby reducing the footprint of the control module
200.
[0031] Referring again to FIG. 1, the control module 105 may have
access to a persistent memory 106, which in one embodiment, is an
Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM).
The persistent memory 106 and the control module 105 may be
packaged together in the same package or in different packages
without restriction. Persistent memory 106 may also be any other
non-volatile memory source.
[0032] Host 111 may be any computing system communicatively
couplable to transceiver 100A. In this description and in the
claims, two entities are "communicatively couplable" if they are
capable of being communicatively coupled with each other. In this
description and in the claims, "communicatively coupled" is defined
as being capable of communicating data either one way or
bi-directionally. A keyboard or a mouse (not shown) may be
connected to host 111 through use of a serial or parallel port to
facilitate user control of host 111 operational functions. Host 111
may also be equipped with a computer monitor or other display
device.
[0033] Host 111 may also contain a host memory 112. Host memory 112
may be a persistent memory such as a Read Only Memory (ROM).
Alternatively or in addition, host memory 112 may be a volatile
memory source such as a Random Access Memory (RAM). Additionally,
the host memory 112 may also be a processor, register, flip-flop or
other memory device. Host memory 112 may be used to store microcode
received from a wide area network or other similar source.
[0034] Host 111 may be connected to a network 113. Network 113 may
be a wide area network such as the Internet that allows data
transfer between two or more computing systems connected through
public networks. The network 113 may support any standard network
or internet protocol such as, for example, Internet Protocol (IP),
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) or Ethernet protocol.
[0035] Network 113 may connect host 111 to a remote computing site
114. Remote computing site 114 may be any computing system capable
of transmitting microcode to another computing system over network
113. Remote computing site 114 may contain a library of microcode
115. For example, the microcode library 115 is illustrated as
including microcode segments 115A, 115B, 115C amongst potentially
many other as represented by the ellipses 115D. Each of the
microcode segments 115A through 115D may be structured to implement
various specific operational features in transceiver 100A when
executed. The remote computing site 114 may transmit one or more of
the microcode segments 115 to host 111 through network 113.
[0036] Remote computing site 114 may be further configured to
support a user interface such as a World Wide Web site (herein
after also referred to as "web site"). For example, the web site
may contain a page that has radio buttons that correspond to
microcode 115. A user may identify which one or more of the
microcode segments 115A, 115B, 115C, 115D, etc. to purchase by
selecting, for example, the radio button for that feature using the
keyboard or mouse connected to host 111.
[0037] In addition, the web site may be designed to receive
requests to purchase one or more of the microcode segments of
microcode library 115. For example, the web site may contain a
place (e.g., a web page field) to enter electronic payment
information such as a credit card number. On receipt of the payment
request, remote computing site 114 may be configured to send the
purchased microcode to the requesting computing system.
[0038] Having described a specific environment with respect to
FIGS. 1 and 2, it will be understood that this specific environment
is only one of countless architectures in which the principles of
the present invention may be employed. As previously stated, the
principles of the present invention are not intended to be limited
to any particular environment. Accordingly, the principles of the
present environment relate to a method for electronically
purchasing specific transceiver specific operational features and
downloading feature specific microcode that implements the
operational features. An example embodiment of the present
invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
[0039] In many cases, transceiver 100A may implement specific
operational features determined by the transceiver manufacturer.
However, a user may desire to add additional operational features
to meet specific needs or circumstances for a given transceiver
100A. The principles of the present invention allow for a user to
identify additional operational features and for microcode
implementing these additional operational features to be purchased
and received by persistent memory 106 and controller system memory
206 and later to be executed by processors 203. The principles of
the present invention also operate to allow a user to identify
operational features that may be performed by the transceiver even
when initializing the transceiver 100A with microcode. In the
description and in the claims, "microcode" is defined to mean any
type of operational or control code, such as, but not limited to,
firmware and software, that runs on a microprocessor and controls
the operation of the transceiver when executed.
[0040] Suppose that a user desires to update or add a specific
operational feature for transceiver 100A by purchasing new feature
specific microcode. There may be many different types of specific
operational features available for purchase. In this description
and in the claims, a "specific operational feature" is defined as a
specific transceiver operational function that is implemented by
executing feature specific microcode. The following are examples of
operational features. These examples are not exhaustive and should
not be read to limit the claims.
[0041] One example is an alarm or warning setting. This allows a
user to specify that an alarm be triggered when an operational
parameter such as temperature reaches a certain value. Another
example is custom diagnostics in addition to any standard
diagnostics. For example, a user may be more interested in the
operation of the laser driver 103. A diagnostic could run specific
checks on the laser driver 103 and report the results back to the
host 111. A third example of an operational feature would allow the
user to set various operational parameters such as voltage minimum
and maximum, operating time, up time, and temperature at desired
levels. A fourth example would allow for off transceiver module
logging of transceiver operational data.
[0042] Referring to FIG. 3, a flowchart of a method 300 for an
optical transceiver host computing system ("host") to facilitate
purchasing and updating of optical transceiver specific features is
illustrated. First, the host identifies desired transceiver
operational features to be purchased (act 301). For example, in the
environment described with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2, host 111
accesses remote computing site 114 over network 113. Host 111 may
display a remote computing site 114 interface such as a web page on
an attached monitor. If the web page were configured with radio
buttons as discussed above, then a user may determine the desired
specific operational feature to purchase by selecting the
appropriate radio button with the host 111 keyboard or mouse.
[0043] In additional embodiments, the host computing system may be
a computing system that a human user contacts using a telephone or
other like device. The user then specifies which of the specific
operational features he or she desires to purchase and this is then
communicated to remote computing site 114.
[0044] For example, if the user desired to purchase a temperature
warning alarm, then the user would select the radio button
corresponding to that specific feature. Additionally, if the user
desired to purchase multiple specific features, then the user would
select more than one radio button. For example, if the user desired
to purchase the temperature warning alarm feature and the off
transceiver module logging feature, then the user would select the
radio buttons corresponding to both of those features. The user may
in like manner use the host to identify any number of additional
specific features to purchase.
[0045] The remote computing site 114 may be further configured to
contain a library of feature specific microcode 115. Microcode
library 115 may be comprised of individual segments of feature
specific microcode 115A, 115B, 115C, 115D, etc. that correspond to,
and when executed implement, each of the identified specific
operational features. The remote computing site 114 may access the
feature specific microcode segments 115A, 115B, 115C, 115D, etc.
corresponding to the specific operational feature identified by the
selected radio button for purchase.
[0046] The host then transmits a request to purchase the desired
specific operational features (act 302). In the example
environment, host 111 transmits over network 113 to remote
computing site 114 a request to purchase the selected specific
operational features. This may be accomplished in a number of ways.
For example, the user may input a credit card number with the host
111 keyboard. This credit card number may be associated to an
account with a credit card issuer. The credit card number may then
be transmitted by host 111 to remote computing site 114.
Alternatively, the user may access host 111 to input a bank account
number with directions to debit the bank account. The number and
the directions to debit may also be transmitted by host 111 over
network 113 to remote computing site 114. Additionally, the user
may access host 111 to direct that an amount of money be
electronically wired to an appropriate place. This direction may
also be sent by host 111 over network 113 to remote computing site
114. There may also be other methods, either now known or
identified in the future, that will enable use of the present
invention to make a request to purchase the specific operational
feature. Thus, the optical transceiver host transmits a request to
purchase the desired specific operational feature.
[0047] Referring again to the method of FIG. 3, the host receives,
in response to the request to purchase, information by which
purchased feature specific microcode corresponding to the
identified features may be accessed (act 303). This may be in the
form of permission to access the feature specific microcode or
directions on how to download the microcode. The information may
also be a decryption key to enable decryption of encrypted feature
specific microcode. For example, in the example environment, remote
computing site 114 may respond to the request for payment from host
111 by sending directions on how to download the feature specific
microcode to host 111.
[0048] The host may then access the purchased feature specific
microcode (act 304). In the example environment, host 111 may
download the selected feature specific microcode segments 115 over
network 113 to host memory 112. For example, if the user had
selected the temperature warning alarm feature and had made a
request to purchase this feature by providing a credit card number
in the manner already described, and had sent this information over
network 113 to remote computing site 114, then host memory 112
would receive the temperature warning alarm feature specific
microcode from remote computing site 114.
[0049] Remote computing site 114 may also respond in this manner to
requests to purchase multiple specific operational features. For
example, if the user selected the temperature warning alarm feature
and the off transceiver module logging feature and a request to
purchase both features in a manner discussed previously was sent
over network 113, then host memory 112 would receive the selected
feature specific microcode segments from remote computing site 114
corresponding to both features.
[0050] Finally, the host provides the purchased feature specific
microcode to the optical transceiver (act 305). For example, the
purchased feature specific microcode received by host memory 112
may be provided to transceiver 100A for execution and
implementation. Host 111 may be configured to provide the feature
specific microcode to control module 105 over the SDA and SCL lines
or other implemented host communication interface. For example, a
user may interface with host 111 using the attached keyboard and
direct host 111 to provide the purchased feature specific microcode
to control module 105. If multiple segments of feature specific
microcode have been purchased, the user may elect to provide all of
the microcode to transceiver 100A at one time.
[0051] Alternatively, the user may elect to send different segments
of feature specific microcode at different times to transceiver
100A. Additionally, host 111 may be configured to automatically
provide the purchased feature specific microcode to transceiver
100A anytime the purchased feature specific microcode is received
by host memory 112. The host 111 may even be configured to
automatically update the optical transceiver 100A in response to
having downloaded the feature specific microcode 115.
[0052] The feature specific microcode may be stored in persistent
memory 106 for later execution. Alternatively, the microcode may be
directly loaded into controller system memory 206 for more
immediate execution. The processors 203 execute the microcode,
causing the transceiver 100A to implement and perform the
identified operational features. For example, if the temperature
warning alarm feature specific microcode was loaded into controller
system memory 206 and executed by processors 203, then transceiver
100A would implement a temperature warning alarm.
[0053] In another embodiment, host 111 may receive the feature
specific microcode from a source other than remote computing site
114. For example, the feature specific microcode may be delivered
to the user on a portable storage unit such as a digital video disk
(DVD) or a compact disk (CD) ROM from the transceiver 100A
manufacturer. The feature specific microcode stored on the DVD or
CD may be loaded into host memory 112 and later to transceiver
100A. Alternatively, transceiver 100A may have the feature specific
microcode library 115 pre-loaded into persistent memory 106.
[0054] The feature specific microcode, either from the temporary
storage unit or pre-loaded, may be encrypted to prevent
unauthorized access. In order for a user to execute the feature
specific microcode, a decryption key may be needed. The decryption
key may be separate microcode that is structured to allow a user to
access and execute the feature specific microcode from the
temporary storage unit or that is pre-loaded into persistent memory
106.
[0055] A user may access remote computing site 114 and use host 111
to identify desired operational features (act 301). However,
instead of containing a library of feature specific microcode 115,
the remote computing site may contain a library of decryption keys.
The user would select the radio buttons corresponding to the
specific operational features and corresponding feature specific
microcode decryption key segments 115A, 115B, 115C, etc that the
user desired to implement in transceiver 100A.
[0056] The user would then use host 111 to transmit to remote
computing site 114 a request to purchase the selected decryption
keys corresponding to the desired features (act 302). This may be
done in the manner already described. For example, the user may
provide a credit card number or a bank account number.
[0057] Remote computing site 114 may then respond to the request
for purchase by providing the host 111 with access to the selected
decryption keys (act 303). The decryption keys may then be sent
over network 113 and received by host memory 112 in the manner
described in the previous embodiment. Once received, host 111 may
use the purchased decryption keys to obtain access to the encrypted
feature specific microcode (act 304).
[0058] For example, if the encrypted feature specific microcode had
been loaded into host memory 112 by a DVD, then host 111 may use
the purchased decryption keys to decrypt the feature specific
microcode stored in host memory 112. This decrypted feature
specific microcode may then be provided to control module 105 over
the SDA and SCL lines for later execution by processors 203 (act
305).
[0059] Alternatively, if the encrypted feature specific microcode
had been pre-loaded into persistent memory 106, then host 111 would
provide the purchased decryption keys to control module 105.
Control module 105 would load the encrypted feature specific
microcode from persistent memory 106 and would use the purchased
decryption keys to decrypt the feature specific microcode (act
305). Processors 203 would execute the feature specific microcode
and transceiver 100A would then implement the specific operational
feature as directed by the feature specific microcode.
[0060] For example, suppose a user desired to implement the
temperature warning alarm feature. Further suppose that persistent
memory 106 was pre-loaded with specific microcode library 115. The
user would access remote computing site 114 and would use host 111
and net work 113 to select the radio box corresponding to the
temperature warning alarm feature as already described. A request
for purchase would also be sent by host 111 to remote computing
site 114 as described. Remote computing site 114 would respond by
sending the decryption key that corresponded to the selected
feature to host 111. Host 111 would provide this decryption key to
control module 105. Control module 105 would use the decryption key
to decrypt the temperature alarm specific microcode stored in
persistent memory 106. This would allow processors 203 to execute
the microcode. However, the decryption key would not allow the user
to execute any other segment of specific microcode library 115
stored in the persistent memory. The user would be required to
purchase additional keys.
[0061] The principles of the present invention provide a mechanism
for the purchase of transceiver specific operational features. This
is accomplished by the downloading of transceiver feature specific
microcode. A user may select the desired operational feature by
accessing a remote computing site over a network with the
transceiver host computer. The user may send a request to purchase
the operational feature to the remote computing site. In response
to the request, the feature specific microcode may be provided to
the host and later to the transceiver. This mechanism thus provides
a quick and easy way to purchase new specific operational features
whenever a user desires to update the operational features of a
transceiver. Accordingly, the principles of the present invention
represent a significant advancement in the art of purchasing and
updating optical transceiver specific operational features.
[0062] The present invention may be embodied in other specific
forms without departing from its spirit or essential
characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in
all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of
the invention is, therefore, indicated by the appended claims
rather than by the foregoing description. All changes which come
within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be
embraced within their scope.
* * * * *